Police departments in Texas may soon be using drones to respond to emergency calls, according to Police Chief Brian Jones.
The Bee Cave Police Department demonstrated an autonomous drone system called “AV8” on Friday morning.
The demo is part of a pilot project to test the AV8, which also includes a computer system to keep the drone on target. Both vehicles are made by Austin-based startup Eve Vehicles.
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“Well, it's really a force multiplier for us because it acts as an eye in the sky and gives our officers real-time information before they arrive on scene,” Bee Cave Police Chief Brian Jones told FOX 7 Austin.
“We've been working on it for a couple generations,” eve Vehicles co-founder and CEO Roger Pessina told FOX 7 Austin. “We've been working on this particular concept for about two years.”
The drone's battery is onboard and the flight time is approximately 40 minutes.
The autonomous AV8 drone will be controlled by a computer system developed by eve Vehicles of Austin, Texas. (KVUE)
“And then when that drone's battery gets low, it calls another drone in the network, and they come and replace it,” Pessina told FOX 7 Austin. “And this drone goes to the nearest nest and recharges its batteries.”
In the pilot program, drone routes are pre-programmed along local roads and highways to reach emergency dispatch locations.
“So the idea is, once we have the address, we can plug that into the AV8, calculate which drone is approaching that call, and then it will autonomously go out and head out to the scene without a pilot. Once it arrives on scene, the pilot can take control and move the drone around to get a better view of what's going on,” Pessina told FOX 7 Austin.
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From there, the video is transmitted directly from the drone to dispatch, where the footage is sent in real time to Bee Cave Police patrol cars and smartphones.
The first deployment of the AV8 system could begin as early as next week for limited emergency calls in the Austin suburb of Bee Cave, but the full system isn't expected to be in place for another month or two.
Future plans are already underway with eve Vehicles to develop night vision options and a parachute safety system for the AV8 drone, which will be launched from “Nests” open-air platforms.
The Bee Cave Police Department announced it is partnering with Austin-based eve Vehicles to launch an autonomous drone program for emergency calls. (KVUE)
Three launch sites were selected for the Bee Cave AV8 pilot program, including two local schools. The schools were selected before last Wednesday's mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia.
“Take for example the school shooting in Georgia, God bless us, if something like that were to happen here,” Police Chief Brian Jones told FOX 7 Austin, “And we have the drone technology capabilities to get that information before our officers arrive on scene and be better prepared to engage the suspect.”
“If we can know where they are before officers arrive, we can better respond to the situation and potentially save a life,” Chief Jones told FOX 7 Austin.
An official launch date for the Bee Cave AV8 pilot program has not yet been set.
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The Bee Cave Police Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
